


A New Pet

by StarflowerSea



Category: ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! AAside (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Comedy, Fluff, Gen, Live, Music, Pet, puppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28126254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarflowerSea/pseuds/StarflowerSea
Summary: A story of how Argonavis came to adopt Pon-chan, and their daily lives together.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone; I'm back with another fic! You may have heard me mention on Twitter a little while back – it details the story of how Argonavis adopted Pon-chan and their daily lives together!  
> As this is a rest project, it'll have a more erratic release schedule, so please bear with me!  
> With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy! As always, comments are appreciated!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While walking in a park with the rest of Argonavis, Ren goes to investigate off the beaten path. What he discovers is…

Ren wandered through a park with the rest of Argonavis, taking in the sights around him. The air was pleasantly balmy, filled with the twitter of birds and the joyous giggles of children as they ran to and fro. It was a great day to be out exploring.

The park was spacious, with large swathes of grass crisscrossed by paths and dotted with large trees. In the center was a large circular fountain where people came to relax or make the occasional wish. Aimlessly they ambled on the paths, wandering to their heart’s content.

Out of the corner of Ren’s eye, a patch of flowers caught his attention. Curiously he wandered over to them, transfixed by the myriad of colors. Before long he arrived at a cluster of flowering bushes, with a tree nearby and a bench underneath. It seemed like the perfect place to unwind and relax.

Just as Ren took out his phone to snap a photo, he heard what sounded like a soft whine. He froze and looked around, curious as to where it came from.

The whine came again, followed by a shuffling sound. Ren startled as he felt something soft brush his leg. Glancing down, he found himself face to face with a small black and white puppy, its violet eyes wide. Its pointed ears twitched as it tilted his head and blinked at him.

“A puppy?”

Ren crouched down and gazed at it, a smile drifting across his face as the puppy wagged its tail and yipped. It was such a cute, small thing. 

“Where’d you come from, little guy?” Ren asked softly as he held out his hand. Again the puppy blinked and sniffed, then pushed its nose against it. Chuckling, Ren scratched its ears, earning a series of content yips. As Ren glanced over it again, he saw that it had no collar or any other form of identification. Perhaps it was a stray?

Ren gazed around to find that he was alone. He needed to get back to the others before they got worried. As he stood, the puppy snuggled up to him, gazing up at him with wide eyes as it nuzzled his leg. Ren gently pat it on the head, then turned to leave. Barely did he make it a few feet than did he realize that it was trotting behind him, wagging its tail.

Ren blinked down in surprise. “You want to come along?”

He couldn’t help a chuckle as the puppy ran up to him, yipping. Despite its best attempts, its short legs were hindering its speed to the point where it seemed to be plodding along more than running. Smiling, Ren bent down and scooped it up in his arms. The puppy yelped in surprise and squirmed, eyes wide.

“Don’t worry, I got you.” Gently Ren stroked the puppy’s fur, which seemed to calm it as it settled down. Ren couldn’t help but smile as he cradled it in his arms. “I’m going to bring you to my friends, okay?”

Curiously the puppy tilted its head and blinked before settling down in his arms contently. Smiling, Ren made his way back down the path, searching for his friends. As he arrived at a fork in the path, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, his eyes widened as he saw multiple texts and missed calls from the others asking where he was, saying that they were at the fountain in the middle of the park. Ren fired a quick text saying that he was sidetracked and was on his way with a surprise before tucking his phone in his pocket. A quiet, yet nearly giddy smile crossed his face as he imagined the others’ reaction at him showing up with a puppy in his arms. Surely they’d be surprised at first, if not a tad indignant – yet he sensed it wouldn’t be long before they fell in love with it.

A five-minute walk later, Ren found himself gazing at the large circular fountain in the center of the park. A ring of benches surrounded it, many of which were occupied as people relaxed in the spring air. Ren scanned the area, looking for any sign of his friends.

“Ren! Over here!”

Perking up at his name, Ren saw the others waving at him from a bench near the opposite side of where he was. Smiling, Ren jogged over to them, being careful not to hurt the puppy as he held it close. The puppy didn’t seem to mind, contently snuggling into his arms as it looked around.

As he neared, Ren’s stomach tightened at the mixture of disapproval and worry on his friends’ faces.

“There you are!” Wataru sighed in relief, though his face remained creased in annoyance. “Why didn’t you answer your phone? We were all worried about you!”

“Sorry about that.” Ren chuckled sheepishly as he gently held up the puppy. “I found this little guy near a cluster of bushes and he wanted to come with me.”

“A puppy?” Yuto’s face lit up with an ecstatic grin. “It’s so cute!”

“Wait, you just picked up a puppy and decided to take it with you?!” Wataru stared at Ren in disbelief. “You can’t just do that! What if it belonged to someone?”

“There’s no tag nor collar on it though,” Banri pointed out. “For all we know, it could be a stray.”

Rio placed one hand on his chin thoughtfully. “That puppy seems quite friendly for a stray, seeing as it is docile enough to allow you to pick it up and carry it this far. Perhaps it has become more accustomed to being around humans than other animals.”

“That or it ran away from its owner,” Wataru countered. “We should check to see if it has one first before we just run off with it.”

“We  _ have _ to keep him!” Already Yuto was turning towards Wataru and Rio with pleading eyes. “Please, please, please?”

Banri nodded eagerly. “We can take care of him together! I know lots of cool tricks I can teach him!”

“Did you not hear what I just told you?!” Everyone startled as Wataru’s voice abruptly rose. “What if we take it in now, only for its owner to come looking for it later? We’d be in deep trouble!”

Everyone fell silent at his words. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, the last thing they wanted was to be accused of stealing someone else’s pet.

Wataru ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. “Even barring that, adopting a stray animal out of the blue like this is risky. And we don’t even know if our sharehouse allows for pets.”

“It does!” Yuto exclaimed. “I saw it in the contract!”

“Even then, we don’t know where it’s been and what diseases it may be carrying,” Rio interjected. “What if it passes something on to us?”

“We could go to the vet for a check-up,” Ren piped up.

Banri gave Ren a thumbs-up. “That’s the smartest idea. Besides, I’m sure the vet would know how to handle things like this better than we can.”

“First, we’re going to the animal shelter,” Wataru countered. “The first thing we need to do before anything else is check whether the puppy has an owner. If it does, we’re returning the puppy to them, no questions asked.”

“R-right…” Ren stammered.

Wataru glanced between everyone, then sighed. “Come on. Let’s go” Without another word he and Rio turned and walked off, leaving Ren, Yuto, and Banri to gaze after them.

“So…did you give him a name yet?” Yuto gestured towards the puppy.

Ren shook his head. “Not yet. What kind of name would be good for him?”

“Since you found him first, I think you should be the one to name him,” Banri replied. “It’s only fair, after all.”

Ren tilted his head thoughtfully as he gazed down at the puppy, his gaze lingering on the white star-shaped patch of fur in the center of its forehead. It gazed back at him, star-shaped pupils sparkling as it panted. Gently he placed it down on the ground, watching as it shook its fur off and wagged its tail.

“He even resembles you.” Yuto grinned. “It must’ve been fate you two met!”

Ren chuckled. “You don’t say!”

He watched amusedly as the puppy tumbled to keep up with everyone, plodding along as fast as its chubby legs would carry it.

“Pon, pon, pon…” Ren chuckled at each of its steps.

“It does seem like he’s plodding, isn’t it?” Banri remarked.

“Come on, little guy!” Yuto cheered. “You can do it!”

As if in response, the puppy yipped and bobbed its head, before leaping towards them. The three burst into laughter and cheered at its advance. Out of the corner of his eye Ren thought he saw Wataru and Rio glance back at them bemusedly for a moment.

“Say, I have an idea for a name.”

Yuto and Banri both perked up.

“Really? I wanna hear!” Banri exclaimed.

“Me too!” Yuto chimed in. “I bet it’s something really cute!”

“Mhm!” Ren nodded eagerly. “How about ‘Pon-chan’?”

“Pon-chan?” Banri tilted his head. “Seems a bit of an odd name to me.”

“Well, it’s because of the way he runs,” Ren replied as he gestured at the puppy. “See? He’s plodding, like  _ pon, pon, pon…” _

The puppy’s steps landed in time with each  _ pon _ as it made its way over to Ren, sitting down and wagging its fluffy tail as it gazed up at him. Ren grinned as he knelt and scooped it up. “How about it, Pon-chan? You like it?”

The puppy perked up and yipped, eliciting a chuckle as it licked Ren’s cheek affectionately.

“Pon-chan it is, then!” Banri ruffled Pon-chan’s ears playfully. “Guess he likes it too!”

“Already gave him a name, I see.” Wataru sighed as he looked back at them.

“Why not? It’s a cute one, and it fits him perfectly!” Yuto replied.

“Not the point,” Wataru replied. “We can’t get too attached to it yet – at least not until we know more about its origins.”

“Matoba’s right,” Rio chimed in. “As much as I understand how much you all want to keep this puppy, we need to follow proper procedures first.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yuto grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

“It’s a start at least,” Banri said as he smiled at Pon-chan. “Everything will be okay. You’re in safe hands now.”

Ren nodded and hugged Pon-chan close, smiling as the puppy curled up contently. “Come on. Let’s catch up with Wataru and Rio.”

“Got it!”

With that the three hurried after their friends, Ren cradling a ball of fluff in his arms.

* * *

A short van ride later, the five arrived at an animal shelter that Rio searched up. Together they hopped out of the van and headed in, Ren carefully holding the now-sleeping Pon-chan.

As they entered, Ren was greeted with the sounds of barks, mews, and chirps. He could only imagine the different kinds of animals that were here, waiting to be adopted.

The receptionist glanced up at the group as they entered. “Hello. What can I help you with today?”

“We found this abandoned puppy in a park,” Wataru replied. “We were wondering if it belongs to an owner.”

“It didn’t have any sort of identification when we found it,” Rio chimed in.

The receptionist looked over at Pon-chan, then nodded. “Please hand the puppy over to me, and I will take a look. Please wait here for a bit.”

Carefully Ren handed Pon-chan over to the receptionist, who took him and walked off into the back. Yuto and Banri peeked over at the other animals, while Wataru and Rio went to wait by the wall. Ren glanced around at the others, a mixture of hope and anxiety quietly gnawing at him. If things went well, they’d all hopefully have a new pet everyone could take care of together.

After what felt like an eternity, the receptionist finally emerged from the back, carrying Pon-chan in her arms. The puppy was wide awake and alert, tail wagging as he looked around with wide eyes.

“It doesn’t seem like this puppy had a previous owner, at least not one in this area – it doesn’t match with any of the other dogs registered in our database,” the receptionist said.

“So that means we can keep him, right?” Yuto asked hopefully.

“Are you five planning to adopt him?”

“We really want to!” Banri exclaimed. “We were planning to if he didn’t have a previous owner.”

“Is that so?” the receptionist replied with what seemed like a small smile. “I hope you can all take good care of him together.”

“We will,” Ren replied.

“Alright.” The receptionist nodded at them. “It’ll be a 7,800 yen fee.”

Everyone glanced at each other in surprise.

“7,800 yen?” Ren looked around worriedly. “Can we afford that?”

Yuto nodded without hesitation. “We can pay right now!”

“I got it!” Banri pulled out his card and went to pay. Ren felt his heart flutter as he looked over at Pon-chan. Soon the puppy was going to be theirs!

“And…done.” The receptionist nodded in approval, then handed Pon-chan over to Ren. “Congratulations. The puppy is now yours.”

Ren felt a grin spread across his face as he hugged Pon-chan close, burying his face into the puppy’s soft fur. Pon-chan yipped and wriggled excitedly, nuzzling his cheek.

“We did it!” Yuto and Banri high-fived each other, their faces exuberant. Wataru and Rio could only shake their heads, though Ren could see smiles on their faces as well.

Ren cradled and pet Pon-chan gently, heart soaring. “You’re going to a new home now!”

“And we got a new member!” Yuto interjected with a wide grin.

Pon-chan yipped in agreement and wagged his tail. Ren looked up as the others gathered around him, all smiles.

In that moment, they knew that their lives were going to change for the better.


	2. Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argonavis eagerly welcomes Pon-chan into their lives, quickly growing fond of the little puppy. However, caring for a new pet also carries its own set of challenges…

Truth be told, Wataru had no clue how he got roped into this.

Taking care of a pet was a huge responsibility – feeding, walking, grooming, and bathing, not to mention vet visits for checkups as well as expenses for food, toys, and other supplies. On top of that, they had to be trained too to ensure they wouldn’t act up, especially when their owners were away. All in all, it’d require a large shift in routine at best – one Wataru couldn’t help but wonder if they were truly ready for.

Yet back at the park, and later the shelter, Wataru could see the determination in his friends’ eyes – not to mention the elation when they managed to successfully adopt Pon-chan. Despite himself, Wataru felt it too, especially seeing just how close Pon-chan was to everyone. Maybe they had a chance after all.

A vet visit, a flurry of paperwork, and many visits to various pet shops later, the members of Argonavis finally arrived back at their sharehouse with Pon-chan in tow. Though thoroughly exhausted from all the running around, everyone was simultaneously jubilant at the thought of having a new friend in their lives.

The moment they stepped in the door, Pon-chan plodded eagerly through the sharehouse, sniffing out everything he could. The others carried their materials inside, lugging in bags of dog food and chew toys, along with a dog bed and food and water bowls.

“Where should we put everything?” Ren asked.

“I think it’d be best to get Pon-chan settled in in the living room since it has the most space for him to roam around,” Wataru replied as he gestured towards the living room.

“Got it.”

Grabbing the dog food, Wataru lugged it over to the living room closet and placed it inside before dusting himself off with a sigh. “Phew. That was heavier than I expected.”

Turning, he watched as Banri placed the dog bed next to the bookshelf and the food and water bowls beside it. Pon-chan wandered over, sniffing at them curiously.

“Seems like he’s quite a curious pup,” Banri chuckled as he pat Pon-chan’s head affectionately, earning a grateful yip and a tail wag.

Wataru bit back a chuckle of his own as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“So what now?” Yuto asked as he and Ren joined them.

“First and foremost, we need to train Pon-chan in basic commands,” Rio replied from behind them. “Otherwise who knows what he’ll do to this place.”

“True, true,” Yuto replied with a sheepish chuckle. “He is a husky, after all – energetic little guy. Right, Pon-chan?”

Pon-chan barked and wagged his tail in response, eliciting chuckles from everyone.

“We also need to figure out a schedule for feeding, walking, grooming, and bathing,” Wataru pointed out. “For the first two items, it should be simple – we take Pon-chan out for a walk first in the morning before feeding him, then repeat the process in the evening. Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“That sounds good,” Banri replied. “Though we could also take Pon-chan out in the afternoon too if we wanted, assuming any of us are free then.”

“What about baths and grooming?” Ren asked. “I’ve heard that huskies tend to shed a lot…”

Rio nodded with a chuckle. “They certainly do. We’ll need to seriously keep up with cleaning the sharehouse.”

“That won’t be a problem!” Yuto grinned as he gave everyone a thumbs-up. “We’ll be sure to keep the place extra spotless!”

“Watch until you start pulling out another puppy’s worth of fur from under the couch,” Wataru said wryly. “Seriously, huskies shed a _ton.”_

“They do, huh?” Ren chuckled as he glanced down at Pon-chan, who was scratching his ear with one paw. Curled up like this, Pon-chan looked more like a fluffy ball than a dog.

“Don’t forget vet visits,” Banri added. “Those can get expensive quickly!”

“True…” Yuto placed one hand on his chin in thought. “How often should we visit the vet then? Surely Pon-chan will need a check-up from time to time, right?”

“Since he’s a puppy, we should bring him to the vet every month or so to get his shots up to date, as well as spaying and neutering,” Rio said.

“Every month?” Banri’s eyes shot up. “Won’t that add up really quickly?”

“Well, you wanted to keep Pon-chan in the first place.” Wataru folded his arms. “I thought you’d be prepared for this.”

“It’ll be okay!” Ren interjected with a smile. “We’ll all work hard so we can take good care of Pon-chan together!”

Wataru shook his head amusedly. “Out of all of us, Ren is certainly the most eager to care for Pon-chan, that’s for sure.”

“Considering Nanahoshi is the one who first found Pon-chan, this isn’t surprising.” Rio glanced between Ren and Pon-chan. “I have a feeling that this will be quite an interesting experience.”

At that moment Pon-chan stood and made his way to the couch, where he climbed on and began contentedly gnawing on a pillow.

“Hey! You can’t chew on that!” Wataru ran over to the couch and tugged the pillow out of Pon-chan’s mouth before picking Pon-chan up. “It’s not food nor a toy, got it?”

Pon-chan wagged his tail and gazed up at Wataru with innocent eyes before licking his cheek. Wataru could only giggle helplessly and pull away, before placing Pon-chan down on the ground. “Alright, that’s enough!” He could hear the others laughing along amusedly as they watched.

“Seems Pon-chan loves you too!” Banri grinned.

“He loves everyone!” Yuto chimed in! “And we all love him too! Right, Wataru, Rio?”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess.” Wataru scratched the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle.

“Well, I suppose you could say so.” Though Rio’s expression was nonchalant, Wataru thought he could see a tinge of warmth in his eyes.

“I knew it!” Yuto fist-pumped the air with a cheer. “I knew you two would come around eventually!”

“Whoa, whoa, not so fast!” Wataru waved his hands in front of him frantically. “We didn’t imply anything of the sort at all! Right, Kikyo?”

His words were only met with a smirk as Rio looked between everyone. Pon-chan wandered up to Rio and wagged his tail as he placed his front paws up on Rio’s leg. For a moment Rio glanced down at Pon-chan before stooping down to pet his head, earning a yip of appreciation as Pon-chan nosed Rio’s hand gently.

“See? I was right!” Yuto exclaimed triumphantly.

“Sure, Pon-chan may be a cute puppy now, but remember that we’re taking care of a real, live animal.” Wataru folded his arms and swept everyone with a stern gaze. “It will require a lot of work, responsibility, and money. It won’t be easy.”

“Aw, we’ll be fine!” Banri gestured broadly towards everyone. “As long as we all work together and chip in equally, surely Pon-chan will thrive!”

“Yeah!” Ren nodded eagerly in agreement. “I’ll do my best to take care of Pon-chan too!”

Wataru sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “I hope your naivety won’t overtake you too soon.”

“What do you mean?” Banri tilted his head quizzically.

Wataru quickly waved it off. “It’s nothing.”

“Then it’s settled!” Yuto clapped his hands, startling Wataru from his thoughts. “From this day on, we have a new friend, Pon-chan! Let’s all do our best to care for him together!”

“Yeah!” Ren and Banri cheered. Wataru could only glance at Rio resignedly as the latter stood and shrugged.

As if noticing Wararu’s mood, Pon-chan tumbled over to him, tail wagging. A small smile flitted across Wataru’s face despite himself as he stroked Pon-chan’s fur. Pon-chan lay down in response, tail thumping against the ground contentedly.

Gradually Wataru felt the unease in him melt away as he relaxed, soothed by Pon-chan’s presence. Perhaps the others could be right – as long as they were together, hopefully this would work out. He just had to hope that they had what it took.

* * *

It wasn’t long before Wataru found his first clumps of fur under the couch.

Not just the couch, in fact – in the bookshelves, in crevices and corners of rooms, even in his bed – there were bound to be tufts of grey and white fur scattered about, waiting to be found. No matter how much they vacuumed the whole place from top to bottom, it was as if they could never be truly rid of it.

Grumbling to himself, Wataru went to grab the vacuum from the closet for the third time that week, lugging it to the living room. As he turned it on and began to sweep it back and forth, he heard Pon-chan yelp and scuttle away, as if startled. Wataru could only shake his head as he turned his focus to cleaning the room, the vacuum’s whirring drone drowning out all other sounds.

Thirty minutes and a frustrating wrangle under the couch later, the living room was finally clean. Wataru wiped the sweat from his brow with a sigh as he put the vacuum back in the closet. This would have to do for now, until the inevitable fur bunnies would make their appearance known some days later.

As he looked around, Wataru spotted Ren crouched in front of Pon-chan, their faces nearly touching as Pon-chan’s tail wagged wildly back and forth. Curiosity piqued, Wataru wandered closer just in time to hear Ren utter a soft _awoooo._

“Ren? What are you doing?” Wataru asked.

“Teaching Pon-chan to howl!”

“You’re teaching him to do _what?”_

“To howl! Like this!”

Wataru jumped with a gasp as Ren threw his head back and let out a long howl that filled the room. “Now you try it, Pon-chan!”

Pon-chan blinked at Ren for a moment, then raised his snout to the air and attempted to mimic Ren. A weak howl, more like a whimper, escaped, eliciting amused laughter from Ren.

“You can do it, Pon-chan!” Ren encouraged. “Come on, try again!”

“Ren, you realize that if you keep this up, we’re going to get noise complaints,” Wataru warned. “Other people are living around us too, you know.”

To Wataru’s surprise Ren gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry!”

“You don’t say,” Wataru grumbled.

Both of them startled as Pon-chan uttered a proper howl, Ren’s eyes widening in awe.

“He did it!” Ren nearly shouted as he leapt to his feet. “Pon-chan howled for the first time! Did you hear it, Wataru?!”

“Yes, yes, I did,” Wataru replied dryly as he shook his head. “Now keep it down before we get the neighbors knocking at our door.”

“I told you, it’ll be fine!” Ren insisted as he smiled broadly at Pon-chan. “Right, Pon-chan?”

Pon-chan barked eagerly, tail wagging so fast Wataru thought it would fly off.

Ren gestured towards Pon-chan, eyes shining. “See? Pon-chan says it’ll be okay too!”

“Whatcha guys doing?” Banri asked as he poked his head in, Yuto close behind.

“I’m teaching Pon-chan to howl!” Ren replied. “Want to hear?”

“Sounds fun!” Banri grinned. “Let’s have a contest to see who can howl the loudest!”

“I’m in!” Yuto chimed in. “Bet you guys can’t howl as loud as I can!”

“Both of you, no.” Wataru gave Yuto and Banri a stern glare. “It’s already loud enough as it – we don’t need to add more noise to the mix.”

“Come on, just once?” Banri’s eyes widened as he pouted pleadingly. “You and Rio-kun can participate too if you want!”

“No howling competitions, and that's final.” Wataru folded his arms and tapped his foot. “And before you ask, giving me that look will not make me change my answer.”

Out of the corner of Wataru’s eye he saw Rio step into the room, sweeping everyone with a cool gaze. “I understand you are all excited about playing with Pon-chan, but do try to keep it down. As Matoba said, we do have other residents living in our vicinity, and it would be unwise to bother them.”

“Aw, you two are no fun,” Yuto grumbled as his shoulders sagged.

“Maybe we could do a small, short one?” Ren asked. “Just a minute or two, nothing more.”

“Even a minute is still too much,” Wataru retorted.

“How about thirty seconds?” Banri gestured around the room. “Just this once. We promise.”

Wataru and Rio exchanged a long glance. Wataru could feel Ren’s, Yuto’s, and Banri’s expectant gazes on them – not to mention Pon-chan, who was still excitedly wagging his tail.

Finally Wataru sighed and nodded wearily. “Fine. But only once, and Kikyo and I will time you. As soon as thirty seconds is up, all of you are to stop, no exceptions. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Ren, Yuto, and Banri replied in unison.

“And the timer starts…now.”

Barely were the words out of Wataru’s mouth did Ren let loose a howl that reverberated through Wataru’s chest. Pon-chan, Yuto, and Banri followed suit, their voices filling the air.

Rio shook his head bemusedly. “You’re right. They are loud, for sure.”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Wataru sighed as he facepalmed.

The thirty seconds seemed to stretch into an eternity as the chorus of howls clamored in Wataru’s and Rio’s ears. Wataru could only grit his teeth and stare at the timer, while Rio watched bemusedly.

A glance at the other three told Wataru that they were having the time of their lives, their eyes shining as they howled exuberantly. Pon-chan seemed to be into it as well, his tail wagging wildly as he howled with all his might.

Wataru looked down at the timer, his heart leaping in relief as he saw it near zero. Already the chaos was nearly too much to bear. His eyes narrowed as he silently counted down the remaining seconds.

_Five, four, three, two, one—_

_“Time!”_ Wataru’s shout cleaved the air as he raised the timer in the air.

Abruptly the room fell silent, save for a lingering howl from Pon-chan.

“Pon-chan, we’re done now.” Ren stroked Pon-chan’s neck, causing Pon-chan to stop and blink at him curiously.

“That was thirty seconds.” Wataru held up the timer.

“Phew!” Banri stretched his hands over his head. “That was way too much fun! Let’s do it again sometime!”

“Oh no, you’re not,” Wataru growled.

“Kidding, kidding.” Banri raised his hands placatingly with a chuckle. “But seriously though, it felt great letting loose like that. Maybe you two should try it sometime.”

“We’ll try it when we feel like it,” Rio replied shortly.

Before anyone could say any more there was a knock at the door. Pon-chan perked up with a series of short, nervous barks, ears quivering.

“Great,” Wataru sighed. “Now you guys did it.”

“It’s okay, Pon-chan,” Ren murmured soothingly as he held Pon-chan close. “It’ll be alright.”

Wataru shot the others a sharp glare as he walked over to the door. “I’ll go get it.”

As he reached the door, Wataru peeked through the peephole to find a man standing on the other side. “Who’s there?”

“Police here. We would like to talk to you.”

Wataru’s stomach tightened into knots as he gulped. “Alright.”

Drawing in a breath, he opened the door, shivering as the chilly night breeze swept into the sharehouse.

“We’ve received several noise complaints regarding this residence from other residents in the surrounding area,” the policeman said as he looked everyone over. “We are checking in to make sure that everything is alright.”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Wataru replied. “Some of my friends just got…a bit carried away.”

“Sorry about that,” Yuto chuckled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “We didn’t realize we were being so loud.”

“As long as everyone here’s safe, that’s all that we’re concerned about,” the officer replied. “Just to clarify, no one’s injured or in need of assistance?”

“No,” Rio replied. “Everyone is safe and sound.”

“Good.” The officer looked everyone over once again, then bowed. “If there is nothing more you need, then I hope you all have a pleasant evening.”

“Thank you.” Wataru bowed back politely. “A pleasant evening to you as well.”

As Wataru closed the door, everyone simultaneously released a collective sigh of relief.

Immediately Wataru turned on Ren, Yuto, and Banri, fury bubbling up in his chest. “What on earth were you three _thinking?!_ Kikyo and I both warned you multiple times that this was only going to cause us trouble, yet none of you listened!”

“Matoba.” Rio cut Wataru off, his voice was gentle but firm.

“S-sorry…” Ren’s voice trembled as he raised his hands.

Wataru drew in as much air as he could, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath until his lungs screamed for release. Finally he exhaled deeply, his head spinning as the air rushed out of his lungs. Shaking his head, Wataru rubbed his temple as he searched for words.

“Just…don’t do it again, alright?” Wataru finally said wearily, his words barely audible through the blood pounding in his head.

A soft whimper tugged Wataru from his daze as Pon-chan shuffled up to him. A pang of guilt pricked Wataru’s gut as he looked down into Pon-chan’s sad, worried eyes.

“Sorry you had to see that, Pon-chan.” Wataru knelt and hugged Pon-chan soothingly. “I’m not mad at you, I promise.”

His words were met with a soft yip as Pon-chan nuzzled his cheek, then licked it gently. A small smile flitted across Wataru’s face as he ran his fingers through Pon-chan’s thick fur. Gradually Wataru could feel his frustration melt away into peaceful serenity.

Finally Wataru stood and looked over at the others, who were all watching him with concerned expressions. He could only give them an apologetic look before averting his gaze. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.”

“It’s…it’s fine.” Banri trailed off as he sighed audibly. “We should’ve heeded your warning, or at least been careful to keep it down.”

“It’s alright. What’s done is done.” Rio interjected gently, his voice almost soothing.

Yuto nodded in agreement. “At least everything turned out alright in the end.”

“Yeah,” Ren chimed in. “And we all had fun too, while it lasted.”

“It sure sounded like it,” Wataru replied with a wry grin. “Just try not to wake our neighbors next time.”

Ren chuckled and nodded. “No guarantees, but we’ll try our best.”

The tension in the room lifted, relieved laughter bubbling up and spilling out of everyone. Pon-chan perked up, yipping as he tumbled around them.

In that moment, the light in their hearts bloomed to chase away the darkness, their voices resounding bright as stars.


	3. New Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banri is eager to teach Pon-chan all the tricks he knows. Things get interesting in the process when Yuto suggests an unusual proposal…

Despite their initial mishaps, everyone rapidly adjusted to – and fell in love with – Pon-chan. They eagerly took care of him, taking turns with feeding, walking, bathing, and grooming. Whenever they could, the five of them all walked Pon-chan together, contently basking in each other’s company. Even Wataru and Rio admitted that ever since Pon-chan came into their lives, the mood at the sharehouse had become brighter and livelier – more playful, even.

Oftentimes everyone found themselves spoiling Pon-chan with treats, playtime, and cuddles while Pon-chan rewarded them with puppy kisses and affection. Daily walks turned into little adventures of their own thanks to Pon-chan’s insatiable desire to explore and investigate every interesting thing he came across, to his owners’ amusement (and sometimes vexation). And after a long, busy, day, Argonavis loved nothing more than to curl up on the couch with Pon-chan next to them, watching a movie or reading. It was clear that in all aspects of life, Pon-chan had all but stolen Argonavis’s hearts.

Banri found himself looking back on those moments with fond nostalgia. Though they stumbled a few times at first, caring for Pon-chan proved to be so much more fun than any of them could have ever imagined. It also reminded him of simpler times back home, when he and his family raised a dog of their own.

Thinking back on it now, Banri couldn’t help but wonder if his previous experiences were part of why he felt so drawn to Pon-chan. Much like Pon-chan, the dog Banri’s family raised had been found as a stray puppy in the woods and brought back home, where Banri and his siblings raised it as their own. Their dog proved to be a fiercely loyal companion, one that Banri spent many years of fond memories with. Whenever Banri looked at Pon-chan, he found himself filled with a mixture of nostalgia and joy.

Banri watched amusedly as Pon-chan tumbled about on the floor, shaking a chew toy about. At his core, Pon-chan was a cuddly, affectionate, and very fluffy ball of energy – always prancing about excitedly when something caught his attention, or sidling up to his caretakers for cuddles, treats, and play. Not to mention, Pon-chan was a quick learner, if Ren teaching Pon-chan to howl was any indication.

“Come over here, Pon-chan,” Banri called absentmindedly.

At his name Pon-chan perked up and scampered over to Banri, dropping the chew toy at Banri’s feet with a yap.

Banri chuckled as he picked the toy up. “Looks like you want to play, huh?”

Pon-chan wagged his tail with a series of excited yips as he bounded around in circles, almost seeming to chase his tail.

Grinning, Banri tossed the chew toy a few feet away. “Fetch!”

Immediately Pon-chan chased after the toy, snatching it up and returning to Banri with a few bounds.

“Good boy.” Banri stooped down and ruffled Pon-chan’s fur affectionately, earning a yip of gratitude and a gentle lick on his hand.

Banri’s mind drifted as he stood and looked around the room. Come to think of it, Pon-chan was trained surprisingly well for a stray– he already knew most of the basic commands, like sit, stay, fetch, and rollover. Granted, those were all considered basic commands to teach a puppy, yet Pon-chan responded easily to every one – sometimes he even did those actions on his own. Whoever his old caretaker was, they clearly had taken good care of him. What could have caused them to give up Pon-chan, abandoning him in a park for Argonavis to find?

Banri shrugged off the questions with a shake of his head. None of that mattered right now. What mattered was that they had managed to adopt Pon-chan, giving him both a safe home and a loving family to be with. It was clear Pon-chan was happy here, as was the rest of Argonavis.

Banri glanced down at Pon-chan, who was sitting and staring up at Banri expectantly, tail thumping against the ground. What other tricks could he teach Pon-chan?

Banri soon perked up with a grin as an idea came to him. “Stay here, all right Pon-chan?”

Pon-chan tilted his head with a quizzical yip but otherwise obeyed. With that Banri ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of puppy treats from one of the cabinets. Pulling out a small handful, Banri tucked the treats into his pocket and returned to the living room, only to discover that Pon-chan had abandoned the chew toy for one of Banri’s sneakers, gnawing at it without a care in the world.

“Hey, Pon-chan,” Banri half-groaned, half-chuckled as he walked over and gently tugged his shoe out of Pon-chan’s grasp. “That’s one of my shoes you got there, silly.”

Pon-chan whined in disappointment, his ears drooping. Banri bit back a sigh as he glanced over his sneaker. Thankfully Pon-chan’s teeth were still small, so the puppy didn’t do much damage besides drooling all over it – nothing a wash couldn’t fix.

Putting the sneaker away to wash later, Banri returned to the living room and waved at Pon-chan. “C’mon, Pon-chan!”

Pon-chan perked up and trotted over to Banri curiously.

Banri smiled and held out his hand. “I’m gonna teach you a few new tricks. How’s that sound?”

His question was met with a tail wag and a bark of approval. Chuckling, Banri nodded. “Alright. First off, up!”

Pulling out a treat, Banri held it directly above Pon-chan’s head, just out of reach. “Come on, up!”

For a moment Pon-chan glanced at Banri quizzically, then brightened at the sight of the treat. Eagerly Pon-chan pawed at it with bright eyes, lifting up on his hind legs as he panted.

“Good boy!” Banri cheered as he gave Pon-chan the treat. Pon-chan gulped it down almost immediately, wagging his tail as he barked.

“That was so cute!” An excited squeal drew Banri’s and Pon-chan’s attention as Yuto bounded into the room.

“Hey, Yuto-kun.” Banri grinned at Yuto warmly. “I was just teaching Pon-chan a new trick.”

“I saw! That was amazing!” Yuto’s eyes sparkled as he gesticulated excitedly. “You surely are an expert in dog training!”

Banri scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. “Well, I did own a dog before, so I do have experience in training and such. Besides, this isn’t exactly a difficult trick to teach.” He grinned down at Pon-chan, heart fluttering. “I can’t wait to teach Pon-chan all the tricks I know!”

“Could you do that again?” Yuto asked as he pulled out his phone. “I want to get a picture of it!”

Banri chuckled as he pulled out another treat. “Sure thing.”

At the sight of the treat Pon-chan perked up with a series of excited yaps. Grinning, Banri held his hand over Pon-chan’s head again. “Pon-chan, up!”

Immediately Pon-chan leapt on his hind legs, pawing the air excitedly. Banri held his hand tantalizingly just above Pon-chan’s head, leading the puppy on a little circular “dance”.

Yuto squealed as he snapped photo after photo. “This is too adorable!”

Finally Banri lowered his hand and gave the treat to Pon-chan, watching amusedly as the puppy eagerly gobbled it up. “You’re a good boy, you know that?”

Pon-chan barked in agreement, eliciting laughter from Yuto and Banri as he bounded around eagerly.

“You gotta show the others this!” Yuto exclaimed! “I bet they’ll love it!”

Banri perked up and nodded. “That’s a great idea!”

“What’s this I hear about tricks?” Rio asked as he peered in.

“Hey, Rio-kun!” Banri waved at Rio cheerily. “I was just showing Yuto-kun a new trick I taught Pon-chan!”

“Oh?” Rio arched an eyebrow curiously. “I’m intrigued.”

“He got Pon-chan to stand up on his hind paws! It was the cutest thing!” Already Yuto was prattling away as he showed Rio his phone. “I got lots of pics!”

Rio’s expression softened into one of amusement. “I see. It seems like Shiroishi is quite the competent dog trainer, indeed.”

“Suppose so,” Banri replied with a chuckle and shrug.

“What other tricks do you know?” Yuto asked. “Can you get Pon-chan to do anything super fancy?”

Banri placed one hand on his chin in thought. “Well, most of the tricks I taught my dog back home were for helping outdoors, such as herding cattle. It wouldn’t be of much use here.”

“Hm…” Yuto furrowed his brow. “From the looks of it, Pon-chan seems to know most of the basic commands already – I have to admit, I’m both surprised and impressed.”

Rio nodded in agreement. “Whoever his previous owner was, they certainly trained him well.”

“It also made house-training Pon-chan quite a bit easier, thankfully,” Yuto added. After a moment, he perked up. “Maybe we can teach Pon-chan to sing!”

Banri blinked. “Wait, what?”

Yuto nodded, his face lighting up with a grin. “You guys remember the howling contest we had?”

Out of the corner of his eye Banri saw Rio shake his head. “Of course I did. Thanks to all of the noise you, Nanahoshi, and Shiroishi created, we got a visit from the police – and Matoba got quite angry, too.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Yuto chuckled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “Anyway, I was thinking about that and got the idea that maybe we could teach Pon-chan to howl along to music – more specifically, Ren’s singing!”

“Won’t that create a ton of noise, though?” Banri knit his brows together. “I don’t want to know what’ll happen if we get the police called on us a second time.”

“That’s true,” Yuto sighed. “I suppose we could just play the music quietly and teach Pon-chan to howl quietly too. Is that something you can do, Banri?”

Banri glanced down at Pon-chan, who seemingly tired himself out and was now curled up lazily on the floor. “The most I’ve done with my dog back home was simply teach him to keep quiet upon command – I’ve never actually taught him to dynamically control the volume of his vocalizations.”

“Would such a thing even be possible?” Rio mused.

“We’ll never know until we try!” Yuto replied.

Rio shook his head with a chuckle. “Optimistic as always, aren’t you, Goryo?”

“Well, optimism isn’t always a bad thing!” Yuto spread out his hands as he turned towards Rio. “After all, it’s what got us this far in the first place!”

At that moment there was the sound of a key in a lock, followed by a creak as the front door to the sharehouse opened.

“Hey guys, we’re home!” Ren called as he and Wataru stepped in, both of them carrying shopping bags full of groceries.

At the sight Banri, Yuto, and Rio perked up, greeting the duo with warm smiles.

“Welcome back, both of you!” Banri replied.

Pon-chan perked up and leapt to his feet with a joyous bark, tail wagging as he ran over and dashed in circles around Ren’s legs. Chuckling, Ren placed his bags down, then stooped down and ruffled Pon-chan’s fur. “Hey, Pon-chan. How’re you?”

Pon-chan barked again and nuzzled Ren’s cheek, then wriggled out of Ren’s arms and plodded over to Wataru. Wataru glanced down at Pon-chan with a small smile and a nod. “Hello to you too.”

“What were you guys up to while we were gone?” Ren asked.

“I taught Pon-chan a new trick!” Banri replied with a grin. “Wanna see?”

“You did, huh?” Wataru smiled fondly as he headed to the kitchen. “Well, let’s see it after Ren and I put those groceries away.”

“I want to see too!” Ren chimed in eagerly as he followed.

“Alright!” Banri fished into his pocket for the last treat and held it out. “Pon-chan!”

To his surprise Pon-chan ignored him, instead choosing to sniff around at Ren’s and Wataru’s shoes.

“Pon-chan!” Yuto called. “Banri has a treat for you!”

To everyone’s perplexed amusement Pon-chan didn’t seem to hear them, his tail wagging as he sniffed the shoe rack.

“Maybe Pon-chan wants to go for a walk?” Banri said.

“I just walked him a few hours ago, though,” Yuto replied. “I think he’s just curious about the places Ren and Wataru have been to.”

Rio chuckled and shook his head as he walked over and carried Pon-chan away from the shoes. “I suppose so.”

“This reminds me, I had an idea for our next live!” Yuto piped up.

Ren perked up as he and Wataru reentered the living room. “What is it?”

“Does it have to do with Pon-chan, perhaps?” Wataru added.

“You got me.” Yuto grinned cheekily. “I was thinking we could teach Pon-chan to sing along to our music – and once he gets good enough, we could bring him as a performer to our next live!”

Everyone did a double-take.

“You’re joking, right?” Wataru asked incredulously. “There’s no way they’d allow us to bring a live animal on stage! That’s just asking for trouble!”

“Pon-chan would probably get far too excited.” Banri folded his arms. “Not to mention all the wires and equipment – if he were to start messing with those, it could bring the whole place down!”

“True…” Yuto’s shoulders sagged slightly. “Not to mention we’d have to keep him on a leash to prevent him from running off…and then there’s all the noise from the crowd and our music.”

“The idea does sound fun for a casual live though,” Ren suggested. “Like a simple one on the street or in a park.”

Banri perked up. “Hey, that’s a great idea!”

“I agree!” Yuto’s face was radiant as he nodded eagerly. “Come on, we  _ have _ to do it now! Besides, it’s been forever since we’ve done a street live!”

Out of the corner of his eye Banri saw Wataru and Rio share a dubious glance.

“Even then, there’s still the possibility of Pon-chan running off,” Wataru said. “How’re we going to keep an eye Pon-chan while performing at the same time?”

“Having Pon-chan with us would also more than likely distract viewers from paying attention to the performance itself,” Rio added. “Though I suppose that that’s a risk you’re all willing to take.”

“Of course!” Yuto retorted. “Pon-chan’s also a member of Argonavis, after all!”

Ren nodded in agreement. “I’d like to try it – it sounds like it’d be really fun!”

“I agree with Ren-kun and Yuto-kun,” Banri chimed in as he gestured towards Pon-chan. “I’ll figure something out, I promise.”

“Well, this better be worth it,” Wataru muttered as he shook his head.

Banri gave Wataru a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry – I’ll make sure of it!”

“Once Shiroishi is settled on something, it’s nearly impossible to change his mind.” Rio sighed resignedly, though Banri thought he could see a hint of a smile flicker across Rio’s face. “Though I suppose that’s not always a bad thing, in the end.”

“I’ll help out too!” Yuto exclaimed.

Ren walked over and picked up Pon-chan with a grin. “We’re going to teach you how to sing, Pon-chan!”

Pon-chan perked up with a quizzical head tilt, before barking and wagging his tail. Chuckling, Ren cuddled Pon-chan close as the others watched amusedly.

The next few weeks were going to be interesting for sure, Banri thought. Yet he also sensed that it was going to be the start of some incredible fun. Argonavis’s next live was going to be a blast without a doubt – he just knew it!


	4. Singing Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argonavis decides to teach Pon-chan how to sing along with their songs. However, training a puppy in music isn’t as easy as they expected…

“Are you truly positive this will work?”

Rio gazed around at everyone from his spot at the keyboard, brow furrowed.

“I told you all, everything will be fine!” Yuto exclaimed as he spread out his hands. “We just gotta have faith in each other! Right, Ren, Banri?”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve said that during this session,” Wataru retorted as he folded his arms. “And so far, all we’ve accomplished is waste half an hour of practice trying to get Pon-chan to howl to a single note.”

“Well, he did it in the end,” Ren chuckled. “That has to be progress, right?”

“It  _ is _ progress, but…” Banri furrowed his brow with a frown. “Will we ever get to a song at this rate?”

“The fact that Shiroishi’s concerned means that this is perhaps not the best idea.” Rio swept Yuto and Ren with an appraising gaze.

Yuto sighed, shoulders sagging. “I guess, but…I really wanted to do it! Besides, all of us agreed that we’d try to figure something out together!”

Wataru shook his head pointedly. “I certainly do not recall agreeing to this.”

“Neither did I,” Rio chimed in.

Banri groaned as he stretched his arms over his head. “Sorry, guys. I know I said that we could try, but it’s clear things aren’t working out here.”

“Then let’s try a different approach,” Ren suggested. “Pon-chan and I’ll keep trying, no matter how long it takes!”

Pon-chan barked in agreement, his tail wagging eagerly. Ren, Yuto, and Banri chuckled, while Wataru and Rio shook their heads bemusedly.

“You guys sure are stubborn, you know that?” Wataru grumbled.

Yuto winked at them. “Well, it means we’re not willing to give up!”

“Yeah!” Ren chimed in with a nod.

“Well, if you’re not giving up, I’m not either.” Rio could see a fire in Banri’s eyes as the latter readied his drumsticks.

Rio lowered his head to hide a bemused smirk. “I suppose we don’t have a choice, then.”

Wataru chuckled resignedly. “You don’t say.”

Yuto looked around at everyone. “So…anyone got any ideas?”

“Well, we’ve tried everything we could to no success,” Banri noted. “Doesn’t seem like Pon-chan seems to understand the concept of singing – or for that matter, howling on command.”

“But what about the howling contest we had?” Ren asked. “Pon-chan was doing fine then!”

“Well, it was because there were others howling with him,” Yuto said. “Apparently that doesn’t seem to translate well to musical notes or phrases, though.”

“Forget all of this.” Wataru threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Can we  _ please _ just get to practicing for now? We can worry about Pon-chan’s singing lessons later.”

Rio nodded in agreement. “After all, we’re still the central performers.”

To Wataru’s and Rio’s surprise Ren, Yuto, and Banri perked up.

“That’s it!” Banri exclaimed.

Rio furrowed his brow, annoyance creeping in despite himself. “What now?”

“We were overthinking it this entire time,” Yuto replied. “What if we just played as we did normally? Surely it might motivate Pon-chan to sing on his own!”

“As long as we get our practice in, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Rio shook his head wearily, then straightened. “Alright. Shall we begin?”

Everyone nodded in unison.

“Let’s go!” Yuto shouted. “One, two, three, four—”

The first chords of  _ STARTING OVER _ roared through the air, Ren’s voice soaring above the harmonies. Immediately adrenaline rushed through Rio, a fire swirling within his chest as he lost himself within the musical fervor.

Onwards they pressed, Ren and Yuto exchanging melodies and harmonies as their voices interweaved seamlessly. A dizzying radiance filled the air as everyone played and sang, their voices wreathing the air in passionate flame. Rio’s heart hammered in his chest as he raced to keep up with the musical dance, the energy thrumming in the air palpable.

As they were reaching a held note, Rio thought he heard a howl.

Curiously Rio glanced down at Pon-chan, who was rolling and tumbling around on the ground excitedly, as if he were trying to dance along. Rio bit back a smirk as he watched. Surely there was no way Pon-chan could’ve howled just now – not while he was tumbling around so much.

Before long another longer howl rose to accompany everyone’s singing. Glancing around, Rio saw the others perk up in recognition, Ren’s, Yuto’s, and Banri’s eyes shining. There was no mistaking it this time.

Together they pushed to the end of the song, Pon-chan’s howling accompanying them the whole way. Louder and louder it grew, filling the air with shrill – though admittedly rather adorable – cries that buzzed in Rio’s ears.

As the last notes (and howls) faded into the air, Ren, Yuto, and Banri immediately burst into cheers.

“Pon-chan did it! He sang along with us all the way through!” Yuto shouted as he turned towards Wataru and Rio. “Did you guys hear it?!”

Wataru grumbled with a shake of his head. “I heard it loud and clear. In fact, it was so loud we could barely hear ourselves.”

“Great job, Pon-chan!” Ren stooped down to pet Pon-chan, earning a series of grateful barks as Pon-chan wagged his tail proudly.

“Let’s do it again with another song!” Out of the corner of his eye Rio could see Banri grinning broadly. “If we keep this up, surely Pon-chan will become a star performer in no time!”

“Or we might get the police called on us again,” Rio warned. “I understand that all of you are excited, but please try not to get too carried away.”

“Oh, right.” Yuto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “It’ll be okay though! As long as we keep it down, it’ll be fine!”

“Can you truly call what we just did ‘keeping it down’?” Rio arched an eyebrow slightly.

Ren glanced around at everyone. “Maybe we should pick a quieter song next – and be more mindful of Pon-chan’s howling, too.”

“What about  _ Slope After the Rain?” _ Banri suggested.

Rio nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Though, are we going to have Pon-chan sing along to this one too?”

“Of course!” Yuto replied without hesitation. “After all, that’s the whole purpose of this rehearsal, right? To allow Pon-chan to practice with all of us!”

Rio caught Wataru’s gaze as the latter gave him a despairing look. Rio could only shake his head resignedly in response, biting back a vexed sigh.

“Fine, but this is the last song,” Wataru admonished. “We can’t risk getting in trouble again – and not to mention, we really need to focus.”

To Rio’s and Wataru’s surprise, Ren, Yuto, and Banri nodded in agreement.

“You’re right,” Ren said. “Even though it’s still a casual live, we still have to give our best!”

“That’s the spirit!” Banri cheered.

Yuto nodded, eyes shining. “Let’s start from the top!”

With that Ren’s voice led everyone onwards, the chords lilting through the air and carrying Ren up like a bird soaring on an updraft. A gentle warmth bloomed within Rio’s chest as he played and sang along, his body subtly swaying to the beat. Rio had to admit,  _ Slope After the Rain _ was one of his favorite songs he had composed for Argonavis – the melody and lyrics both carried a tender warmth, yet they were tinged with a hope that set his heart ablaze. No matter how bad things felt, whenever he listened to or played this song, he always felt uplifted.

To everyone’s bemusement (and Ren’s, Yuto’s, and Banri’s delight) it didn’t take long for Pon-chan to howl up a storm once again – though this time, it almost carried a musical quality to it. Whether it was the contour of the music itself or if it was something else, Rio did not know – yet something about it was more amusing to him than he could’ve expected. Before long a smirk crossed his face, which Rio tried to hide by lowering his head.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Rio thought he could see an amused smile on Wataru’s face as well. For a moment the two locked eyes, telltale laughter starting to bubble up within them.

Both music and howling interweaved with each other freely, creating what could only be described as a bizarre set of harmonies as they swirled through the air. Everything burned with a dizzying, visceral brightness, the wild, almost joyful absurdity of it like something out of a dream.

As the song ended Rio found his body trembling with barely contained giggles. He could feel the others’ concerned gazes on him as he desperately tried to hide the grin spreading across his face.

“Kikyo?” Wataru called.

“What’s wrong, Rio?” Ren tilted his head, his voice tinged with worry.

Rio tried to wrestle back the laughter enough to respond, but that quickly proved to be futile. All he could do was throw his head back and let it roar, hot and bright as it blazed through the room.

The others could only stare at Rio in disbelief.

“What on earth…?” Yuto breathed.

Banri nodded incredulously. “Rio-kun’s actually laughing out loud…”

“Isn’t that amazing?” Ren’s voice sparkled above the din.

It wasn’t long before the others joined in one by one, voices of light blooming and taking flight. Their shared joy rose on airy wings, shining bright as the sun. As if excited by it all Pon-chan ran circles around everyone, barking all the while. The sight only sent Argonavis’s laughter blazing even higher, a song in full bloom.

In that moment everything seemed to sparkle blindingly bright, warmth overflowing like magma to chase away all doubts. The light that bloomed from within filled everyone with burning hope, a confidence that everything would be alright.

No matter what happened, all of them would be in this together, forever and always.


	5. Debut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argonavis holds a casual live at the local park, featuring Pon-chan as a performer. How will Pon-chan fare in his live debut?

The next few weeks passed by in a chaotic blur, giddy excitement buoying everyone the whole way.

Though it took lots of patience, effort, and treats, day by day Pon-chan’s singing grew better and better, to everyone’s delight (along with Wataru’s and Rio’s continued bemusement). Yuto oversaw Pon-chan’s musical lessons proudly, overjoyed at how far the little puppy had come. If they kept up the momentum, Pon-chan would surely become a star singer in no time!

To everyone’s further joy, Pon-chan seemed to be enjoying the lessons as much as Argonavis were, barking and wagging his tail excitedly whenever Ren or any of the others praised him for singing along. Pon-chan also enjoyed bounding around to check out everyone’s playing, running circles around them and cheering them on with encouraging barks as they watched amusedly. Yuto could only grin broadly as he watched, his chest fluttering. Those last practice sessions they had with Pon-chan were no doubt by far the most fun all of Argonavis ever had.

With this time easily swept them by, and before Argonavis knew it, the day of the casual live had arrived.

* * *

Yuto stirred and stretched with a lazy yawn, squinting through the shafts of morning sunlight shining through the window. For a few minutes he simply lay still, allowing himself to come to and fully awaken.

Gradually Yuto grew aware of something soft nestled next to him. Turning, he perked up with a grin as he spotted Pon-chan curled up by his side, sleeping peacefully. Pon-chan seemed to have a peaceful smile of his own on his face, his tail wagging and thumping lazily against the mattress.

Yuto shifted to lying on his side for a more comfortable view, watching Pon-chan contentedly. No matter how many times he saw it, Yuto could never get over how adorably fluffy Pon-chan looked curled up like that. Surely Pon-chan was having some great dreams right now.

There was a series of snuffles as Pon-chan twitched and stirred, before blinking his eyes open and stretching with a yawn. Shaking himself off, Pon-chan blinked and turned towards Yuto with a yip.

“Morning, Pon-chan,” Yuto greeted warmly. “Did you sleep well?”

Pon-chan’s head bobbed as he barked happily. Chuckling, Yuto scratched Pon-chan’s ears affectionately.

“Glad to hear it. Though,” Yuto said as he glanced towards his bedroom door, which to his surprise was open a crack, “How’d you get into my room? I swear I closed the door before I went to bed last night.”

Pon-chan tilted his head, twitching his ears quizzically. Yuto could only shrug bemusedly as he sat up and stretched out fully. “Well, I suppose there’s no point in worrying about that.”

Swinging out of bed, Yuto went to his closet to get dressed as Pon-chan hopped off of the bed and began exploring Yuto’s room, sniffing around curiously.

Just as Yuto finished dressing, something bumped into his leg. Glancing down, Yuto bit back a cross between a chuckle and a sigh at the sight of Pon-chan tangled up in one of his shirts, the sleeves trailing behind him as he rolled around helplessly.

“Silly Pon-chan.” Yuto crouched down and untangled Pon-chan gently before scooping him up, earning a yip of gratitude and a lick on the cheek. Giggling, Yuto cuddled Pon-chan close as he headed out of his room. “Today’s the day of our live – you excited?”

At his words Pon-chan barked shrilly and wriggled, his tail whirling like a helicopter blade. Yuto grinned and gave Pon-chan a thumbs-up. “Alright! Let’s do our best today!”

“Someone sure is excited,” Wataru chuckled as he emerged from his room.

“Morning, Wataru!” Yuto exclaimed as Pon-chan also barked in greeting. “And well, what can I say? It’s the day of our casual live – and Pon-chan’s vocal debut!”

Though Wataru shook his head with a bemused sigh, Yuto could easily catch the smirk on his face. “You say that like it’s such an important thing.”

“That’s cause it is!” Yuto retorted. “It’s not every day that you get to bring a pet to sing with you live – especially after all the training we’ve done!”

“Alright, I get it.” Wataru didn’t bother hiding the exasperation in his voice as he folded his arms across his chest. “Just don’t go causing trouble, alright? And make sure Pon-chan doesn’t get lost, either.”

“I won’t, I promise! Besides, we’re all in this together, right? Everything will be fine!”

“Yuto-kun’s right!” Banri chimed in as he too joined them. “After all, we’ll all be there performing! And it’s just a casual live, too.”

“You got me there,” Wataru chuckled. “Alright, let’s get breakfast, then get prepared and head out.”

“Got it!”

With that the trio headed downstairs, where the warm, savory smell of miso soup greeted them. As they entered the dining room, Yuto spotted Ren placing bowls of rice on the table. Rio emerged soon after, bowls of soup in hand.

“Good morning, Ren, Rio!” Yuto smiled at them as he inhaled deeply. “Mmm, it smells good in here!”

“Morning, guys.” Ren smiled back contently. “Breakfast is ready!”

“Never expected I’d see Ren-kun in the kitchen again – not after what happened with his other cooking failures.” Banri wrinkled his nose. “I still recall the time you and Wataru-kun knocked over the hot pot and flooded the entire kitchen. Took us forever to clean up.”

“Hey, why are you bringing that up now?” Wataru’s voice rose as he stared at Banri incredulously.

Ren could only chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry about that. But this time Rio decided to take the time to teach me, so everything worked out!”

Yuto, Wataru, and Banri exchanged skeptical glances before perking up as Pon-chan whined and wriggled in Yuto’s arms.

“Good morning to you too, Pon-chan.” Ren smiled and waved fondly at Pon-chan, who barked in response. “Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you.”

Yuto smiled as he gently placed Pon-chan down on the floor. “Looks like it’s time to get Pon-chan his breakfast too!” With that he headed to the living room, beckoning for Pon-chan to follow. “Come on, Pon-chan!”

To his amusement Pon-chan ignored him, instead placing his front paws up on Ren’s leg and wagging his tail. Chuckling, Yuto watched as Ren crouched down to shower Pon-chan with affection before turning and making his way to the living room, where he cleaned and refilled Pon-chan’s food and water bowls. As he finished, Yuto glanced over just in time to see Pon-chan plodding over, wagging his tail.

“Here you are, Pon-chan.” Yuto gestured to the food and water. “Eat up now – you got a big day ahead!”

Pon-chan blinked at Yuto, then yipped and dug into the food, munching away contently. Yuto watched with a fond smile before turning and making his way back to the dining room and joining the others at the table. “Alright, let’s eat!”

Together Argonavis ate contently, chattering and laughing freely. There was no mistaking the undercurrents of excitement that swirled beneath the light, balmy air – everyone was clearly looking forward to the casual live – Yuto, Ren, and Banri most of all.

As they finished and cleared the table, Ren went to take care of the dishes while the others went to grab their instruments and make other preparations. Thankfully, as it was a casual live, there wasn’t much they needed to worry about.

Fifteen minutes later everyone gathered in the living room, instruments in hand. Exhilaration swirled in the air, everyone’s faces shining.

“Are we all ready to go?” Yuto asked.

“Yep!” Banri gave Yuto a thumbs up as he tapped his marching drums. “I can’t wait to rock out!”

“I’m ready as well.” Rio gestured to his keytar. “It should be quite an interesting live, for sure.”

Ren tilted his head quizzically. “What makes you say that?”

“For one, we’ve never performed with a live animal before,” Rio replied. “So far, all of our rehearsals with Pon-chan have been with us alone, within the confines of the sharehouse. What will happen if we step out in front of an audience?”

“I agree with Kikyo.” Wataru nodded thoughtfully. “Pon-chan might get spooked or overly excited by the attention, or worse, get distracted and run off. Even if we keep him on a leash, there’s no way we can keep an eye on him and play at the same time.”

“I can take care of that since I’ll be singing and my hands will be free.” Ren smiled at everyone reassuringly. “Besides, he has all of us – what could go wrong?”

“We just need to have faith,” Banri added. “I have to admit, you guys are worrying quite a bit for a casual live in a park that everyone’s familiar with.”

“Don’t tell me – both of you really are worrying for Pon-chan, aren’t you?” Yuto asked.

Rio arched an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t we? He’s our pet, after all – it’s only right to be worried. Besides, it’s not anything to hide, either.”

“I think Pon-chan will love the attention, personally.” Yuto bit back a chuckle as he imagined Pon-chan standing bright-eyed next to Ren, howling exuberantly along to Ren’s singing. “After all, he’s a puppy, and most puppies are always excited to meet new people.”

Ren perked up and glanced around the room. “Speaking of which, where _is_ Pon-chan? I don’t see him anywhere.”

At Ren’s words the others also glanced around the room, brows furrowed. Yuto’s gaze was immediately drawn to Pon-chan’s bed, which was empty.

“Guess he wandered off to explore.” Wataru sighed and shook his head. “I’ll go look. He couldn’t have gone far.”

Already Yuto was peeking under the couch. “Knowing Pon-chan, he’s probably hiding in a closet or something – he likes those kinds of places.”

“Let’s all search together,” Banri suggested. “It’ll be faster that way.”

Ren and Rio nodded. “Got it.”

With that the five split up to search the sharehouse, Ren and Rio checking upstairs in the bedroom while Yuto, Wataru, and Banri combed the downstairs area. Yuto peeked into closets, ducked under tables, checked in between the shelves, and even searched in the laundry room, calling for Pon-chan all the while. However, there didn’t seem to be any sign of Pon-chan no matter where he looked.

Just as Yuto was making his way back to the living room, he heard what sounded like a muffled thump. Perking up, he walked towards the sound and glanced around. “Pon-chan?”

There was another thump, followed by a soft whine. Yuto followed the sound to a corner of the living room, where he spotted a basket full of clean laundry that had yet to be folded and hung. Yuto tilted his head quizzically at the basket. How did the clean laundry end up over here? Perhaps one of the others had been meaning to take care of it but forgot.

“Yu?” Wataru called, tugging Yuto from his thoughts. “Did you find Pon-chan?”

Yuto perked up as the clothing in the basket wriggled, a smile creeping across his face. “I think I did.”

As the others joined Yuto, the clothes in the basket rolled like waves at sea. Before long Pon-chan came tumbling out of the basket and rolling over to them, bumping into Yuto’s leg as he struggled to right himself.

Yuto couldn’t help but laugh as he watched. Pon-chan had somehow entangled himself in one of Ren’s thin blue scarves, and a sock hung loosely from one ear. It was an adorably funny sight to behold, and the helpless tumbling and flailing of Pon-chan’s little paws only made it even more so.

“Yep, that’s him, alright.” Wataru shook his head, though there was no hiding the smirk on his face. “Naughty puppy, getting in all our laundry.”

“Maybe he wants a costume like ours!” Banri giggled.

Ren giggled also as he nodded. “Seems like Pon-chan really loves my clothes, too!”

Even Rio seemed amused, his lips curling up in a small smile. “I have to admit, Pon-chan does look cute like this.”

Finally, Pon-chan righted himself with a proud bark, wagging his tail happily as he panted. Grinning, Yuto took out his phone to snap a photo, before perking up as the others followed suit. “Looks like everyone’s in love with Pon-chan’s new look, huh?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Banri replied as he snapped photo after photo. “It’s the cutest thing!”

“Yeah!” Ren chimed in. “Pon-chan looks absolutely adorable!”

To Yuto’s amusement even Rio was snapping photos, positioning his phone to conveniently hide what Yuto could only imagine being an ever-growing smile. Smiling, Yuto knelt down and gently disentangled Pon-chan from the scarf and pulled the sock off of his ear. “There you go.”

“I have an idea!” Ren’s shout startled everyone as it pierced the air.

Wataru tilted his head. “What is it, Ren?”

“What if we made Pon-chan a little outfit of his own to wear to our live?” Ren’s eyes sparkled as he gazed around at everyone.

“That’s an amazing idea, Ren!” Yuto grinned broadly before turning towards the others with a pleading expression. “Please? We _have_ to do this!”

“This close to our live?” Wataru spread out his hands in exasperation. “Are you crazy?”

“It doesn’t have to be anything big,” Ren replied. “Even a tiny hat or something like that is fine!”

Banri chuckled as he pointed at Ren’s scarf. “Then wouldn’t that be enough?”

“Come to think of it, that’s perfect.” Wataru nodded in approval. “Simple and minimal hassle, yet it looks great too.”

Smiling, Yuto gently wrapped the scarf a few times around Pon-chan’s neck before tying it in a bow in the back. “There – how’s that look?”

Immediately Ren and Banri burst into squeals of excitement while Wataru and Rio cooed contently. Even Pon-chan himself looked pleased, wagging his tail as he stood tall proudly.

Yuto smiled and pat Pon-chan gently. “You like it, Pon-chan?”

Pon-chan’s head bobbed as he barked and gently licked Yuto’s hand. Grinning, Yuto stood and fist-pumped the air. “Alright! Looks like we’re finally ready to go! Let’s get this live on the road!”

“Yeah!” four voices shouted in unison.

With that the five grabbed their things and headed out, Ren taking the leash and allowing Pon-chan to lead them down the path to the park. No sooner did they step out the door did Pon-chan let out a joyous bark and take off running down the sidewalk as fast as he could, dragging Ren along.

“Pon-chan, hold on!” Ren yelped as he stumbled helplessly after Pon-chan. “Not so fast!”

“Wait up, Ren, Pon-chan!” Yuto shouted, laughter bubbling up as he chased after the two.

Wataru, Rio, and Banri followed as well, their voices light and airy as they floated skyward. Even Ren’s panicked shouts soon gave way to joyful giggles as he raced alongside them. The sun smiled down on them while the cool breeze sang as it rustled through the trees. It was as if nature itself were cheering Argonavis and Pon-chan on.

An exhilarating run later, the six arrived at the park, Pon-chan wagging his tail as he sniffed around eagerly. Ren led everyone to a large tree, where they relaxed under the shade of its broad branches.

Catching his breath, Yuto smiled and strummed his guitar gently. “This seems like a great place, doesn’t it?”

“Yep!” Banri replied. “Wide and spacious – lots of space for both us and the audience to gather and move around if they’d like.”

Already people were starting to gather, many of them clearly drawn to Argonavis’s presence. Pon-chan barked excitedly and wagged his tail as he tried to run over to greet them, only to find himself halted by the leash. Yet it did nothing to curb his enthusiasm as he gazed at the growing crowd with wide, joyful eyes.

Wataru chuckled and shook his head. “Seems like Pon-chan’s as excited as we all are.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Yuto replied as he looked on amusedly. “He’s doing a great job of greeting them, too!”

“Since the audience is arriving, we should get ready.” Rio gently nudged the duo from their conversation.

“Ah, right.” Yuto nodded as he and Wataru went to their respective spots. Glancing around, Yuto could also see Ren, Rio, and Banri settling in, with Pon-chan at Ren’s side, panting eagerly.

“Hello, everyone!” Ren smiled and nodded at the audience. “Thank you so much for coming to see us today!”

At Ren’s words the crowd broke into applause, a few shrill whoops and cheers piercing the air. Yuto grinned, his heart skipping a beat. Though it was but a casual live, he could feel a flame burning in his chest – one that was tempered by playfulness light as the breeze rustling through the trees.

“As you all can probably tell, today we brought a special performer with us.” Yuto bit back the laughter bubbling up in his throat as he gestured towards Ren and Pon-chan. “Everyone, say hello to our puppy, Pon-chan!”

Pon-chan’s ears perked up as he wagged his tail and barked in greeting, eliciting cheers, coos, and laughter from the crowd.

“Please enjoy our first song!”

With that Argonavis forged on ahead, their music filling the air. To everyone’s amusement, it wasn’t long before Pon-chan, now freed from his leash, began tumbling and scampering around everyone, his scarf billowing in the breeze. He dashed around each of the members in turn, earning smiles and nods of appreciation as he cheered them on with a series of tail wags and barks before moving to the next person. It took even less time for the audience to become wholly captivated by Pon-chan’s adorable, with many gleeful coos and squeals audible from the crowd.

As Pon-chan finally scampered back to Ren, the latter reached a held note. As if on cue Pon-chan raised his head skyward and unleashed a shrill howl. Performers and audience both burst into cheers and laughter at this, their applause filling the air.

Yuto’s heart swelled as he watched with a wide grin. There was no doubt that Pon-chan was a star performer now!

With joy swelling in everyone’s hearts Argonavis played on, song after song rippling on the breeze. Pon-chan sang along the best he could – though his eager barks came spontaneously (and often overshadowed the music itself), his howling matched Ren’s voice nearly flawlessly. Dizzyingly joyful harmonies burst forth in a wild, playful romp, inviting the audience to join in. The air itself was electrified with sparkling exuberance – so much so that Yuto thought his heart would sprout wings, burst from his chest, and take flight any moment.

Before everyone knew it the final song had drawn to a close, echoes of its last chords (and howls) ringing through the air. Yuto gazed around at his friends with a breathless grin as the audience burst into raucous cheers and applause, everyone’s faces radiant.

“We did it, Pon-chan!” Ren cheered as he scooped up Pon-chan. “We performed together live for the first time!” Laughing, Ren gently raised Pon-chan high and spun around excitedly before hugging Pon-chan close.

The joy roaring within Yuto overflowed as he ran over to Ren and joined the embrace, the others soon following suit. Again their laughter bloomed like flowers, wreathing the air with light. Pon-chan barked along happily, wriggling in Ren’s arms as he affectionately nuzzled and licked everyone’s faces.

Six voices turned radiant as they reached the sky, sweet and airy as they mingled freely the audience’s cheers and applause. In that moment, everything was dazzlingly bright – dreamlike, even. Yet the joyful reality of it shone even brighter, chasing away all else.


End file.
